Juan Lizarraga is a partner of LaFleur & Laborde, a law firm. He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University and a J.D. degree from Loyola University in New Orleans. He is a registered professional engineer in Louisiana and a registered patent attorney admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Mr. Lizarraga is admitted to practice in Louisiana and Texas before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana. He is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and the American Society of Naval Engineers. He is the Past Chair of the Intellectual Property Law Committee of the New Orleans Bar Association and past Chairman of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the Louisiana State Bar Association. 

Mr. Lizarraga has served as counsel to the Orleans Parish Communication District, the 911 emergency call agency in New Orleans, for almost twenty years. Before his law firm practice, he worked as corporate counsel for a major offshore drilling contractor, handling contracts and new drilling rig construction worldwide.

Engineering Experience

Friede & Goldman, Senior Engineer/Contract Administrator, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1980 – 1983

Contract Administrator on behalf of naval architect for over 15 mobile offshore drilling rigs (total construction cost $1.2 billion) under construction in Korea, Taiwan, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

Negotiated with rig owners on behalf of shipyards and naval architects. Managed communications and negotiations with regulatory agencies such as the United States Coast Guard, the American Bureau of Shipping, Det Norske Veritas, and Lloyd’s Register of Shipping.

Korkut Engineers, Inc., Vice President, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1966 – 1976

Managed naval architectural firm and practiced engineering in the design of offshore drilling rigs and marine vessels, including marine propulsion systems, piping systems, and HVAC.

Ocean Drilling & Exploration Company (ODECO), Barge Engineer, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1965 – 1966

Served aboard the semi-submersible drilling barge “Ocean Queen” in the Gulf of Mexico, responsible for calculating and maintaining vessel stability.